Hamas announced it found the body of an Israeli prisoner in Gaza City and will hand it over to the Red Cross, as the US pressures the movement to expedite recovery efforts amid Israel’s growing threats to resume military action.
A senior source in Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas, told Al-Jazeera on Monday that the body of an Israeli prisoner was found during ongoing searches in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood.
The source added that coordination is underway between Al-Qassam Brigades and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to set a time for the body’s transfer.
In a brief statement, the Brigades confirmed that the body of an Israeli captive, exhumed earlier in the day, will be handed over at 9:00 PM Gaza time.
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Engineering vehicles and rescue teams arrived in the Tuffah area to continue searching for the bodies of Israeli prisoners.
According to Israel’s Channel 13, the Red Cross informed the Israeli army that Hamas is expected to hand over the body later this evening. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority also quoted an official saying that preparations were underway to receive it.
Al-Jazeera’s correspondent reported that a Red Cross team, along with members of Al-Qassam Brigades, accompanied the engineering vehicles and excavation equipment during the search operation.
Intensive Recovery Efforts
Earlier on Monday, a leading Palestinian resistance source told Al-Jazeera that Hamas and other factions are making concerted efforts to recover the bodies of Israeli captives as soon as possible, amid growing US pressure to accelerate the process.
The same source said that the main challenge remains the lack of adequate equipment and technical capacity, noting that many more bodies could be recovered if proper resources were available.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Hamas to expedite the handover of Israeli captives’ remains. Speaking aboard Air Force One alongside the US president, Rubio claimed that Israel had not violated the ceasefire agreement and that both sides were bound by its terms.
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US President Donald Trump echoed this call, saying that Washington wanted Hamas to speed up the return of the bodies of Israeli prisoners.
Israel’s Position
Meanwhile, an informed Israeli source told Channel 12 that Israel’s patience is “wearing thin” and that military options were being explored should the bodies not be returned soon. The source accused Hamas of deliberately stalling to prolong the first phase of the ceasefire deal.
Israeli media reported that intelligence had been exchanged through mediators regarding the possible locations of prisoners’ bodies, while an Egyptian team authorized to enter Gaza began recovery operations.
According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Israeli officials are considering expanding military control in Gaza “as punishment for Hamas’s failure to deliver the remaining bodies.”
These developments came as the Red Cross entered areas west of Rafah for the first time on Sunday, supported by Hamas, to continue the search for the remains of Israeli prisoners.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced it would hand over the body of a deceased Israeli captive it recovered on Monday in Gaza at 9 PM (Al-Quds time).#GazaCeasefire #GazaGenocide pic.twitter.com/e71AU9a6dM
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 27, 2025
Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera reported that heavy Egyptian machinery—including excavators, bulldozers, and transport trucks—entered Gaza via the Karem Abu Salem crossing to aid in recovery efforts.
On October 10, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel went into effect. Since October 13, Hamas has released 20 Israeli captives alive and handed over the bodies of 16 others, with 12 still unaccounted for.
The movement says it aims to close the file completely but requires more time and resources to locate the remaining bodies, citing the extensive destruction caused by Israel’s war of extermination since October 7, 2023.
That war killed 68,527 Palestinians and wounded 170,395—mostly children and women—while destroying 90% of Gaza’s infrastructure. The United Nations estimates the cost of reconstruction at roughly $70 billion.
(PC, AJA)
Marco Rubio, you fucking idiot: visit Gaza! Visit, you gutless coward! See? Expedite!?? MY patience is “wearing thin” you, and your Zionist monsters!
Of course, cause and effect doesn’t exist as far as the Trump Administration goes – neither Trump nor any of his halfwits are willing to admit that Hamas consists of ordinary people, not superhumans able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and thus able to disinter bodies buried since the doofuses of the IDF smashed the buildings they were in. Arselickers Anonymous, rejoice! -the Trump Administration values tongue-applied rectal hygiene more than it does the truth.